Thad Allen's Apache + The Birth of the Cheetah Cat

[DKwestern]

Those boats in the day went 76 with triple 200's,(a Guy named Axle? Palm Beach) that boat went 91 with triple 300's tested at Crandon ,then the engines were lowered and bottom paint 82-84 maybe better BTW those boats loved the 2.4's back then, the weight was perfect for them.

Thanks! That was quick!

[Steve 1]

Thanks! That was quick!

Welcome Sir.

[Steve 1]

Steve,

Does this one look familiar to you? I've never seen any other pics of it.

Notice the quad buckets.

I am working on this boats history

PP 25 a name comes up "Robinson" on the 4 bolster boat

[Steve 1]

Powerplay 33 Outboards

[Steve 1]

In the Water a cool fast 33 from back in the day

[Steve 1]

Powerplay Ad

[Steve 1]

Powerplay Mid 90's Coconut Grove

[Buoy]

Great stuff!
Thanks Steve!

[Steve 1]

Powerplay 33 SS RED Pretty Boat

[Steve 1]

Great stuff!
Thanks Steve!

You are very Welcome.

The raised engine hatch mold on the red boat we used a special Vinylester tooling Gelcoat ,I was evaluating in those days,Held a good shine.

[Steve 1]

Powerplay 38 SS Way Cool

[Buoy]

I love everything about that boat except for the fact it is all red.
The lines look great, the raised hatch looks great...

I'm just not a red guy.

And I have now owned two red boats, and one red truck...

I like the plain white, or classic neutral colors.

But, my opinion doesn't matter. They are all great looking boats!

[Steve 1]

I love everything about that boat except for the fact it is all red.
The lines look great, the raised hatch looks great...

I'm just not a red guy.

And I have now owned two red boats, and one red truck...

I like the plain white, or classic neutral colors.

But, my opinion doesn't matter. They are all great looking boats!

Powerplay was all about color back then ,LOL when the Boat shop is in Paradise that helps ,there were a lot of talented painters doing work there as well .the Bay Watch boat was around this time I think.

[Buoy]

Powerplay was all about color back then ,LOL when the Boat shop is in Paradise that helps ,there were a lot of talented painters doing work there as well .the Bay Watch boat was around this time I think.

Hard for me to believe it was such a short time ago in my mind, but at the same time, this was all 15-20 years ago in some cases. Some of the more recent stuff only 10 yrs ago...
Hell, I still regularly wear my LEOPA Poker Run T-shirts from '99.
Met my wife on that run, seems like yesterday.

Sorry for the sidetrack, It's great stuff Steve, and I really appreciate you sharing this with us.

[Steve 1]

Hard for me to believe it was such a short time ago in my mind, but at the same time, this was all 15-20 years ago in some cases. Some of the more recent stuff only 10 yrs ago...
Hell, I still regularly wear my LEOPA Poker Run T-shirts from '99.
Met my wife on that run, seems like yesterday.

Sorry for the sidetrack, It's great stuff Steve, and I really appreciate you sharing this with us.

No side track it is all part of what this is about,Thank you for the nice comments.

[Steve 1]

The Powerplay wiring in a 38 console

[GENERAL LEE]

This is SUCH a sweet ass thread!

As a kid, I always LOVED the lines of Powerplays, but I was always told they were pieces of chit?! It was refreshing to find out as I got to know people "in the know", and that had owned & been around them, that this couldn't be farther from the truth.

In the last 10 years, I have only heard that they were in fact a fantastically constructed boat, but that Danny just never had the "paperwork" end of the company well built. To me there's nothing worse than hearing the reason for a quality built machine's downfall, was due to overlooking the easiest part, the accounting. Cigarette had these problems, Apache, Bertram Yachts, Burger Yachts, and the list goes on.

Thanks a LOT for posting all of these GREAT pictures & info guys. PLEASE continue on with more, & let us know if anyone is getting in the way of posting more & more of this awesome content.

[Steve2]

General, the paperwork wasn't the real issue. The reason the boats became so well known was because of their meticulous attention to detail, which most everything had to be approved by Dan before the next phase took place. He could not delegate and trust his guys, and he had some of the best talent out there. The death of this company was because of THAT same meticulous attention to detail, which when busy, caused every boat to get behind schedule and created a domino effect, and when that happens the overhead burnrate eats the company alive.

So, what made them great boats is the exact same thing that brought them down - ironic.

[Steve 1]

This is SUCH a sweet ass thread!

As a kid, I always LOVED the lines of Powerplays, but I was always told they were pieces of chit?! It was refreshing to find out as I got to know people "in the know", and that had owned & been around them, that this couldn't be farther from the truth.

In the last 10 years, I have only heard that they were in fact a fantastically constructed boat, but that Danny just never had the "paperwork" end of the company well built. To me there's nothing worse than hearing the reason for a quality built machine's downfall, was due to overlooking the easiest part, the accounting. Cigarette had these problems, Apache, Bertram Yachts, Burger Yachts, and the list goes on.

Thanks a LOT for posting all of these GREAT pictures & info guys. PLEASE continue on with more, & let us know if anyone is getting in the way of posting more & more of this awesome content.

Thank You for your time and the nice comment Regards

[Steve 1]

Danny was on top of his boats from the first drop of resin, The old molds, we reworked parts to a very acceptable state, the new tooling was done with a lot of thought and hard work, no one there ever just did something with out Danny being involved knowing approving the plan.

Myself I would meet with the boss before going home and explain the next days work my method and reasons, Now as for approvals forget it, he was there in my area a dozen times a day checking progress and making photographic records as with everything and everybody else in his factory.

When the new tooling came on line ,I would watch peoples jaws drop when they visited saw the molds and parts, Example the 33 open fish mold there was a pneumatic console to lift the part with air (the 25 had it as well)with ball valves sequenced in how I wanted the deck removed from the tool ,as molds will last forever the damage comes from people, mechanical abuse hammers and wedges ,binding the part when demolding things like that.

Danny had a damn good eye and his persistence, fanatical drive made his boats known world wide he even had a "Black" 38 at the beach show one year, impressive!